Published: Mar 09, 2017, 05:54 AM (IST)
Edited: Mar 09, 2017, 06:01 AM (IST)
South Africa finished session one of Day Two at the score of 301 for 8 against New Zealand at Dunedin. The visitors lost two wickets of opener Dean Elgar (140) and wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock (10), middle-order batsman Temba Bavuma (64) and spinner Keshav Maharaj (5). Neil Wagner, Jeetan Patel took the wickets of Elgar and de Kock respectively while Trent Boult got Bavuma and Maharaj. The wickets of these three lynchpins in South African batting will affect the visitor’s hopes of getting past the 350-run mark to post a dominating total in the first innings. At the end of the first session, South Africa have pacers Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander batting on 2 and 16 respectively. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD, New Zealand vs South Africa, 1st Test at Dunedin
Resuming from the overnight score of 229, South Africa started on a cautious note with Bavuma and Elgar knocking around the ball comfortably. Bavuma looked far more comfortable as compared to his partner. Wagner and Boult who began the proceedings for New Zealand started asking questions to Elgar, in particular, swinging the ball away from the left-handed opener. Yet, Elgar stayed calm and dodged away from the difficult deliveries. It took 145 deliveries for the opener to get going on Day Two; finally hitting a boundary off Wagner’s bowling.
Two balls later, he edged one to Ross Taylor to first slip but falling short of the Kiwi veteran.
But the hosts bowling unit kept on banging Elgar with short deliveries and finally were rewarded. Wagner bowled an absolute snorter to crack Elgar’s code. He banged in short too close to the Elgar’s body. The batsman was into minds if to go for the pull or leave but all he could manage was a genuine edge which wicketkeeper BJ Watling took comfortably breaking the 104-runs stand for the 5th wicket.
De Kock walked in at 252 for 5 and was expected to carry on with the momentum. But he didn’t last long either getting out against Patel. The left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman tried playing a loose drive away from his body and gave away an easy catch to Wagner at deep backward leg. When de Kock departed, South Africa were 265 for 6 but had Bavuma leading the Protea innings who had scored his 5th Test fifty.
But with the momentum in their favour, Boult got rid of him in no time ending his well-constructed innings of 64. Soon Maharaj too followed him in the pavilion 298 for 8.
South Africa will be happy about the fact of crossing the 300-runs mark, but the first session has clearly belonged to New Zealand pacers. Boult and Wagner have got 3 wickets each and their primary motive would be to wind up the Proteas innings as quickly as they can in the second session of the day.
Brief scores
South Africa 301 for 8 (Dean Elgar 140, Temba Bavuma 64; Trent Boult 3 for 57; Neil Wagner 3 for 88) vs New Zealand
